December Runner of the Month: Kathleen Zhou

When did you join NBR and why?

I joined NBR in the summer of 2022, six months after my boyfriend and I moved from DC to Long Island City. At that point I’d been running for years, alone. I liked the solitude; I knew DC and its trails. But now we were new to NYC, and, emerging from the pandemic like a scruffy, under-socialized squirrel after winter hibernation, I wanted to make new friends. I think I googled “run club Brooklyn LIC”, lurked on the NBR listserv for several months, and was finally lured to the unofficial AnD Friday run by the promise of Bakkeri. I am highly food motivated. Once I figured out there were runs that ended with pastries and smoked salmon and ice cream I was sold on the whole running club thing.

In what ways have you been involved with NBR?

I am, somehow, a loyal unofficial run attendee of Tuesday Night Easy Run & Friday’s AnD Run. I also love a good gimmick - runs in costume, runs in an ugly Christmas sweater, runs to the beach, runs in the shape of a wobbly heart - and I really try to attend as many of them as I can.

What do you do when you're not running?

The boring but realistic answer: work. I’m a product manager at DoorDash and have strong opinions about numeric steppers. Every so often some poor account manager catches me in the right (wrong) mood and gets subjected to my “why the f*** don’t we control how merchants use steppers” rant, or its close cousin, my “why don’t we have a portion toggle” rant. If I leave any legacy at DoorDash I hope it’s that.

I take charcoal drawing classes at Bridgeview Art School and like to try as many of the fantastic restaurants NYC has to offer as I can (ibid). I really love Mâm, Forma Pasta Factory, and By Clio Bakery.

How did you initially get into running?

I went to college in Philly and, at the end of junior year, had the idea of running the Broad Street 10 Miler before graduation. But I wasn’t a runner, and so the idea stayed just that.

That summer I interned at a local broker dealer and spent most of the day hanging out with a fellow intern in our shared cubicle . He said he wanted to run Broad Street in ninety minutes. He said it would be easy.

So I bought the first pair of running shoes I saw at DSW and for the first time since middle school started running. I logged many hours going up and down the Schuylkill River Trail. I had no plan, no smartwatch, and the habit of running at 11PM in the dead of winter without gloves. I liked how empty the trails were late at night, how it was just me and my tinny earphones under the starless sky. I liked how my legs grew more muscular and my mind went still like a bug trapped under a glass. I liked how I had something that was mine, all mine, not something my parents imposed or something I thought I had to do to get into the right clubs and classes and internships. I’ve been running ever since.

(I did, in fact, go under ninety minutes at the Broad Street 10 Miler. I beat my fellow intern by three.)

What is your favorite race distance?

The 10 miler is still my favorite distance, but I’ve come around to appreciate the 5k with the fear and awe it deserves. I wish I liked marathons more. I think I will when it treats me more kindly.

Best running memory?

I ran twenty-something miles of the 2022 Wineglass Marathon with a forty-something doctor seeking redemption at her second post-partum marathon. Wineglass is a small race. Runners quickly string out; there are few spectators. When I fell into step with the forty-something doctor around the 5k mark we soon got to talking. How we’d both really racked up the miles as a way to cope with quarantine during COVID, what gels we liked and disliked, her miserable first marathon post-baby replete with a major bonk and heatstroke, the tiny bit of uphill whenever we crossed an overpass, everything and nothing at all. We stuck together as the runners grew fewer and fewer and the miles melted into one unending brown landscape. We worked out a system at the aid stations and regularly traded positions so neither of us was stuck running the shoulder. Around mile sixteen or seventeen she glanced at her watch and said that we were almost on 3:20 pace. Her PR, set in her late twenties, was 3:19. We looked at each other. There was no discussion. We did not need it; by then we were perfectly in sync. We focused on catching up to the 3:20 pack, focused on holding on, until we both could not keep up the pace and fell off, until we crossed the finish line within seconds of each other. 

I’ve been thinking about her recently, after almost two years of mediocre race results, after finding a lesion in my left foot and suspecting it’ll be a chronic issue that will follow me for the rest of my life, after seeing the end of my twenties approach and thinking, is this it? I’ve been remembering how she found me in the finishing area of the Wineglass Marathon, how she hugged me hard and said, thank you. I couldn’t have done this without you. I wonder if she ever remembers me and I doubt I will ever meet her again. But this is it.

Favorite running route in NYC?

Shrek is a go-to and has the dubious bonus of being a superfund tour. Before the NYC marathon I did Alex Campili’s unhinged 20 miles and 7 bridges route at Narwhals and it was awful and amazing and I can’t wait to do it again.

Any running-related superstitions?

I’m not really superstitious. But given how every marathon I’ve ever run has gone sideways somehow I think maybe I should be. Send me your recommendations! 

What has running taught you or changed about you?

Wear gloves on cold days. Say yes more often, yes to beer mile relays or running the island of Manhattan or (attempting) fifteen loops of Prospect Park at the Prospect Park 50 Miler. Invest in good running shoes. When you’re pacing someone, think of more creative lies. Don’t fixate on your times: focus on the joy of the running, remember that someday you won’t be able to do this, look for the people who are cheering for you and will love you regardless of the paces you can hit, who will love you enough to wake up early just to see you pass by and massage your blood-blistered feet afterwards. Carry cash to buy emergency Gatorade during a hot summer long run. Run with friends.

Favorite post-race food?

More races should offer hot liquids to finishers. The Philadelphia Half & Full offers its finishers chicken broth and it is a literal godsend in a paper cup. When I ran the half in 2022 I loitered next to the last table to take cup after cup. I have never felt as grateful as I did when I realized there was chicken broth to thaw my cold fingers and warm my core.

Favorite song to run to / that makes you want to run?

A staple on my running playlist is Peach by Jason Nolan.

Favorite running social media account?

Philly Bowden! I really enjoy her training vlogs and race videos, and how transparent she is about the ups and downs of running. She also inspired me to buy a runsie from Free People so I must acknowledge her as the only runfluencer who has succeeded in influencing me. I never thought I’d be a Free People girlie. I now own two runsies.

What do you think is the worst part about being a runner?

Managing my time during marathon training. When training ramps up I am perpetually tired, cranky, and hungry. It’s harder to see (non running) friends, more stressful if I stay up late for work, and more difficult to not empty out our cabinets of snacks. I have so much respect for people who train for marathons on top of taking care of their families and working far more stressful jobs than mine.

Best advice to running newbies?

I tell people who are just starting to run that getting to the 5km distance is the hardest obstacle to overcome. Once you can consistently run a 5k, it’s so much easier and way more enjoyable to build to the 10k, half, full distance. But getting to that 5km does suck.

Current running goal?

To run pain-free again. To have fun doing it.

Any other fun running facts about you?

I - or more precisely, my hair - was featured in the NYTimes Style section about marathon looks. When the reporter sat down to interview me I went as pink as my hair.

Some of the quotes attributed to me are actually from Margaret Bernstein, one of our Gear Masters extraordinaire, who was way more coherent in explaining the inspiration behind the checkered singlet design than I was at 8am in the morning.